374 FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



All kinds of animal food are eaten by this fish, Numerous examples exam- 

 ined at Beaufort by Professor linton in July and August were found to have 

 been feeding on fish, blue crabs, spider crabs, stone crabs, fiddler crabs, hermit 

 crabs, shrimp, various bivalve and univalve mollusks, and sea urchins. 



Family GOBIESOCIDiE. The Cling-fishes. 



The cling-fishes are small, carnivorous, and easily recognizable by the exist- 

 ence of a large sucking disk between and behind the ventral fins. The disk is 

 rounded in outline, is in part formed by the ventral fins, and its surface is cov- 

 ered with thick skin; by means of it these fishes are able to attach themselves 

 tightly to stones, rocks, and other objects. Other characters of the family are 

 elongate body, depressed anteriorly; moderate-sized mouth with well developed 

 jaw teeth; greatly reduced opercle; 2k or 3 gill-arches; broadly connected gill- 

 membranes; skin without scales; deficient air-bladder; no spinous dorsal fin, 

 the soft dorsal placed posteriorly, similar to and opposite anal; pectoral fins 

 well developed; and ventral fins widely separated, the rays i,4 or i,5. 



These fishes are found mostly in shoal, warm waters among rocks or stones. 

 The largest species are under 8 inches long, and the family has no direct economic 

 importance. There are 5 or 6 American genera, but only the typical genus, 

 Gobiesox, is known from the east coast of the United States. 



Genus GOBIESOX Lacgpfede. Cling-fishes. 



A numerous American genus, having the body very broad anteriorly and 

 slender posteriorly; the head large; the mouth terminal, with strong teeth in 

 jaws and no teeth on vomer or palatines; a strong spine on the opercle; 3 gills; 

 broadly connected gill-membranes free from the isthmus; dorsal and anal rays 

 in moderate number (6 to 12); and the posterior section of the sucking disk 

 without a free anterior margin. {Gohiesox, goby pike.) 



323. GOBIESOX VIRGATULUS Jordan & Gilbert. i 



Cling-fish. 



Gobiesox virgatulus Jordan & Gilbert, Proceedings U. S. National Museum, 1882, 293; Pensacola. Jordan & 

 Evermann, 1898, 2333. 



Diagnosis. — Depth of body .16 total length; head low, broadly rounded anteriorly, its 

 length .35, its width .3 total length; posterior angle of mouth below front of eye; lower jaw the 

 shorter; 2 series of teeth in upper jaw, 4 teeth in outer series somewhat enlarged; eye small, 

 about .2 head and .4 broad interorbital space; cheeks bulging; opercle ending in a sharp spine; 

 dorsal rays 10; anal rays 8 or 9; sucking disk shorter than head; pectorals short, less than .5 

 head. Color: olive green, with pale spots, broad dark cross-bars, and faint, wavy longitudinal 

 yellowish brown lines; the dorsal and anal crossed by the dark bars of the body; caudal dusky, 

 with yellow tip. {virgatulus, narrowly striped.) 



The first North Carolina record for this little species was August 19, 1899, 

 when it was found at the wharf of an oyster cannery in Beaufort Harbor. It has 

 since been found abundantly among the rocks of the Fo:t Macon jetties, and 

 doubtless occurs elsewhere in suitable situations. It has heretofore been known 



